Can you remind us what led you to establish this joint venture?
Gérard Hoffmann: The origins of this project go back several years. Since 2018, within the Proximus context, we engaged in discussions with Google and other cloud platform operators to explore how we could address growing concerns regarding IT sovereignty. At the time, other actors worldwide shared these concerns, notably in Singapore and China. The goal was to leverage cloud technologies while ensuring they were not connected to the United States in any way. The “Isolated Region” project initiated by Google at the time was eventually abandoned. At the request of Europe, the company has recently decided to revive the project in a new form.
Paul Konsbruck: It is this disconnected sovereign cloud that we unveiled on Wednesday, October 25, during the event officially announcing our joint venture. The platform is based on Google Distributed Cloud Hosted technology, made accessible for the first time in Europe to partners. This offering meets new demands increasingly expressed by the market. As a connectivity infrastructure operator, including data centers, we observe a significant client shift toward the cloud. Our aim is to support this transformation from our own infrastructure. The Luxembourg government also showed strong interest in seeing a sovereign cloud implemented locally. We explored multiple options and engaged in discussions with Google and Proximus to determine what could be offered. The solution we implemented together provides access to advanced technologies while offering strong guarantees for data protection.
Can we briefly revisit the concept of a sovereign cloud?
Paul Konsbruck: Various definitions are usually offered for this concept. A sovereign cloud ensures real proximity between users and the location where their data is hosted or processed. Data must be preserved within a data center located on national soil, in nearby regions, or at the very least, within Europe. Sovereignty also implies control over data access, meaning the platform operators must fall under the users’ jurisdiction—or at least be European.
Gérard Hoffmann: Another important aspect is access to advanced technologies offered only by major cloud platform providers, particularly AI tools. The idea is to provide sovereign AI solutions. With the platform unveiled on Wednesday, LuxConnect and Proximus operate the system through the joint venture. A controlled link—via an “airgap”—is maintained with Google to allow updates and new functionality deployments. Each update is inspected by the Luxembourg teams to ensure sovereignty conditions are met before features are made available from LuxConnect’s infrastructure.
Why did you choose Google in particular?
Gérard Hoffmann: Currently, these technologies are not offered by European actors. To provide them, we had to partner with one of the major U.S. players. Google showed significant interest in Luxembourg, as a key location in Europe with an ambitious government digital strategy. This was confirmed during the Prime Minister’s visit to California last spring.
Can you tell us more about the structure of this joint venture?
Paul Konsbruck: Together, we created a new entity named Clarence, a contraction of Clarity and Transparency, two values highly expected by the market. LuxConnect holds 60% of the company, with the remainder owned by Proximus. Our companies complement each other: Proximus brings expertise in digital services for businesses, particularly regulated entities in the financial sector, while LuxConnect provides deep expertise in secure hosting, leveraging our robust Tier-IV certified data centers.
How do you assess demand for such a solution?
Gérard Hoffmann: Demand is considerable and comes from a wide variety of sectors. Initially, we expected interest mainly from public institutions or government actors. We are seeing that industry players, keen to protect intellectual property, are also highly interested. The success of Wednesday’s event, which featured prominent speakers such as Xavier Bettel, Petra de Sutter, and Vint Cerf, reflects the solution’s strong appeal.
What ambition do you pursue with the deployment of this solution?
Paul Konsbruck: Our goal is to commercialize the solution in the countries where we operate as partners, notably through Proximus, including Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Access to this disconnected cloud platform is a first in Europe and may generate interest beyond the Benelux region. Over time, we will see how today’s evident interest translates into platform adoption.
